Cast Free Fun

Thursday we had some fun in the sand, took baths, and did some painting. Hadley liked it all at first, but after a couple minutes into it, she was done. It's all so new to her and she's just not sure she likes being messy. Baths have been a bit of a struggle at times. At first, she'll play and splash, but when you start putting water on her, she really hates it and fights to get out. So, its been a little hard, but still worth every little bit of it. It's good to let her experience it all! The best has been the snuggling! She is such a snuggler without her cast. I think this is the part we'll miss the most!

First night of no cast

As I have time, I'll try to share pictures and stories of what were doing with our wk of freedom. Last night(wednesday), we got the girls some ice cream and let Hadley feed herself. She usually doesnt get to do this because she gets too messy and it's hard to clean a sticky cast up and get inside the cast. She sured it enoyed it last night though. Then we took baths(of course). Oh.... can't forget the snuggling!

Hadley's 2nd cast removal

Yesterday was a sweet surprise! Hadley was scheduled to get her cast off until Friday of this wk. I have been so excited and anxious. I decided to call the orthopedic dept. in Advanced Health care to find out if we can do it earlier. There was only one nurse in the Mequon clinic and said if I could come that very second, she could do it. Unfortunately, I was working and Hadley had a 15 mo. apt at 3:30. I was so disappointed. But she said I could call her after Hadley's apt and see if she was still there. So, after her apt, i called the nurse and turns out she stayed there so she could take Hadley's cast off! We were so excited. We went straight to Mequon and got our little baby back that day. The nurse was so sweet; she gave the girls 12 stickers EACH and a sucker. And the entire procedure was free of charge! Thank God for arranging all of that for us!

Hadley of course did not like the whole process. It was hard for her, but once it was done, she was happy again. It was hard to see her little back once the cast was off. She had a pretty bad bruise on her ribs. It hurt me so must just to think she might have been in pain this whole time. But she's so good about it! It looks a lot better today, but she is definitely sore!

It is so amazing to be able to snuggle up with Hadley again and feel her skin. We miss it so much. Just to see all the little things she is doing now that she can't do with a cast on. For ex. play with her toes or put them in her mouth, Curl up on the floor in a little ball, lay her head on our shoulders, play in the sand, take baths, get messy while eating, etc. But we have to be thankful that God gave us wk breaks in between the castings so we can enjoy these little things that are so often taken for granted.

Anyways, looking at Hadley's back is still disturbing to me. One of her shoulders is so much higher than the other. And it looks as if her neck sits more on one shoulder rather than the other. It is always so hard to see it after not seeing it for so long. I guess in the back of my head i have hopes of her coming out of her cast looking brand new. Then when the cast is taken off, it doesn't look brand new.

We will not have any correction results until next wk when she gets casted again. They will Xray her before the new cast is put on. I will keep you all updated on that. Please pray for correction! And thanks for your prayers!

Using the cast saw




Getting washed up


Hadley's back


Owies

Minocqua Family Reunion

Casting Dates

We made our decision with a lot of praying about Hadley's casting dates. The scheduler called me back and said they moved Hadley's first casting date from September 16th to the 4th. God's answered prayer! Now it is not so bad to cast her then and in September because theres a bigger gap in between them. I'm glad it worked out that way because I really don't think she'd be able to make it till October. I think her cast is already looking a bit tight. Now, were just trying to work some details out. Were trying to find somebody locally to partner with Hadley's Dr in Chicago. Just for the purpose of taking her casts off. This way, we wouldn't have to travel all the way to Chicago to have her cast taken off and then again the following wk to have a new one put on. So far, I've had no luck finding somebody who will take a cast off her since they did not put it on. And also, a lot say they don't work with children that young. Were waiting on Children's even though I'd really prefer not to go there. But if there the only option, i guess it will do. Another option were looking into is taking it off ourselves. I know one other person who does it from our support group so i'm going to get some info from her. That would be nice if we could just do that!
Thanks for all the praying!

Barrette in Hadley's back

Hadley is teething. She still does not even have her 12 mo molars and she is 15 months. Mia got hers at 14 months so im thinking any day now! Yesterday, Hadley had a fever of 102.2 all day. I kept giving her tylenol, but it wouldnt break. She was miserable. Thats teething for you! She just wanted me to snuggle her all day! Poor baby! Then last night she was extremely fussy. Woke up screaming every hour. And she kept flopping to her tummy, but we kept putting her on her back, but whenver we went in there because she was crying, she was always on her tummy burried in her blankets. This morning she was in a better mood, but when i was washing her up about an hour ago, she screamed. As i had her on her tummy washing the tiny little bit of skin showing on her upper back, I saw something in her cast. She did not want to sit still, but I made her for a bit. I looked and it was her barrette. But this time it was the kind where it has a little star attached to it, not just a flat barrette. So i panicked and tried getting it out. She was screaming! I couldnt get it, it was going further down in the cast. I was thinking OH NO, were going to have to get her cast off if I can't get this because it would hurt her bad if it stayed in there. This really explains why she was extra fussy last night and did not want to sleep on her back! So, i finally put the TV on and relaxed her a bit. Then i layed her over my lap and gently rubbed her skin. Then once she was calmed down, I pushed on her skin a bit to see the barrette and I gently got it out with a butter knife like i did the last! The poor baby. She had an engraved star pressed into her back. It was so red and looked so sore! There was a tiny little blister on it too... probabally from being in there all night. At least it didnt make an open wound because then chances are the cast might have to come off. I felt so bad for her. That must have hurt! At least I found it and got it out! She is sleeping soundly now on her back :) I guess were really going to have to watch her more closesly when we put barrettes in her hair. Or maybe use bigger barrettes that can't slide into her cast or softer ones.

Here is a picture of the barrette:

Hadley is walking! Thats right... she got her balance! As of Tues. August 5th, she took 5 steps. She finally learned that she can stand on her own yesterday. She can walk across the room if you can bribe her with crackers or something! She is still very scared to walk at all. I think she is afraid of failure, not actually getting hurt. Whenever she falls, she gets so upset and has a hard time wanting to try it again. But, she can do it! I think it will be just a matter of days until she gets a little more confidence and is walking everywhere! Our baby is getting so big! Im hoping she gets this new skill down good before she is recasted because then she will have to get her balance all over again!

Prayer request: Hadley's casting dates

If you read my last post about Hadley's follow up apt, you might have read that the Hospital will be closed November and December. Therefore they want to cast all children at the end of October so they make it till Jan when the Hospital will reopen.
The scheduler called me and said they have Hadley scheduled for a casting done September 16th because that is when she is due for a new cast... that means she will be in her current cast for 2 1/2 months... which is normal. Then she said, they also have her down for a new cast October 21st because of the hospital closing. That would mean she would only be in her next cast for 1 month! I asked her if she thinks we could make it till October and skip the September casting date. She said, we can try, but she's not sure if we'd make it because at Hadley's age they usually grow out of their casts in 2 1/2 months and that would be 3 1/2 months. I asked what happens if we don't take the September apt and try to make it, but she cant make it. She said they would have to try to squeeze her in somewhere.
We are praying about what we should do. Whether to try to make it till Oct 21st or just do both of the castings.

Reasons for not wanting to do both of the castings are:
1. It's a hard process for Hadley and us. We don't want Hadley to have to go through it so much! And to have to go through it so close together would be rough. (but manageable if we have to)
2. The longer the cast is on, the better the correction is usually. Dr Mehta(casting inventor) recommends having the cast on for at least 12 weeks and to have the cast off as least as possible. Well, if we did both of the castings, that would only be a month in between them and more time out of the cast.

Obviously, reasons for doing both of the castings are:
1. She could outgrow her current cast by September and not make it till October. Our Dr will be out in the beginning of October, so if we try and make it but realize she is having problems before Oct 21st because her cast is too tight, then we wouldn't know what to do. We would either have to have the cast off for a longer period(which i don't think will be an option) or go to Salt Lake City(the next closest Early Treatment Program).

We are praying about it right now and trusting God. He is the only one who knows the future and knows what will happen in both situations. Please pray with us! It's a big decision.
The scheduler wants to know by the end of the wk, but I'm going to tell her we want to talk to Hadley's nurse and she doesn't get back from vacation till Monday. So, hopefully we can hold off till then.

painting

I decided to try painting with all the girls even with Hadley's cast on. I just put one of my t-shirts on her and tied it tight in the back so none of her cast was exposed. It worked pretty good. She loved it. She did a good job with it too! And of course the other girls loved it as well!